Unearthing and re-creating the "company food" of yesteryear! I'll cook it, my husband will eat it, and you'll rest easy in the knowledge that your next backyard party or church potluck will be a success!

Thursday, August 11, 2016

Our Rating:Three-point-five Screaming Husbands!(all
dishes are rated from one to five Screaming Husbands. One Screaming
Husband equals a happy home where all problems are solved during
cocktail hour. Five Screaming Husbands signals the beginning of divorce
proceedings.)

Friday, July 22, 2016

John Wayne's Favorite Casseroleadapted from The Dead Celebrity Cookbook by Frank De Caro
Hey everyone! I'm participating in The Cowboy Cook-Along hosted by our friends over at Recipes 4 Rebels, to commemorate National Cowboy Day! Head over to their Facebook Page to see all the other participants, and here's my own humble contribution:

Wednesday, June 8, 2016

A recent thrift store find was the CHEX® Create-A-Recipe Book (1977) which is filled with "proof that Chex is much more than just a breakfast cereal...not only a great way to start the day but a wonderful way to make good things taste better."

ALL RECIPES IN THIS BOOK HAVE BEEN TESTED AT CHECKERBOARD KITCHENS the frontispiece proudly proclaims, and though I forgot to get a rating from Dr. Husband on this recipe, it's safe to say that it's a "1" screaming husband.
I mostly chose Clam Crunch for the name (I'm a sucker for alliteration) and because clams are something that Dr. Husband has historically not cared for, but this turned out surprisingly well and I would not hesitate to serve these as an appetizer or perhaps as part of a tapas evening. (I've never hosted a tapas evening - but it sounds lovely, doesn't it?)

Our Rating:One Screaming Husband!(all
dishes are rated from one to five Screaming Husbands. One Screaming
Husband equals a happy home where all problems are solved during
cocktail hour. Five Screaming Husbands signals the beginning of divorce
proceedings.)

Monday, May 2, 2016

Sardines! Pie! What better combination could be found for ingratiating yourself into a man's heart?

I'm just delighted with my new thrift store find, The Settlement Cookbook. Not only lots of whacked-out recipes (I can only imagine that sardines were once more popular, or perhaps 1930's housewives were more in touch with their Old World roots), but also lots of advice for new brides like how to do a proper place setting, or what cocktail to serve to the husband's boss. Expect to see lots more from this book!
So, sardines wrapped in pie crust. No hidden ingredients here (the "speck of cayenne" hardly counts). It turns out just exactly how you would expect. The recipe:

Your final reaction depends almost entirely on your valuation of sardines (you will probably guess that I didn't come in with a very high opinion of them):

Our Rating:Four Screaming Husbands!(all
dishes are rated from one to five Screaming Husbands. One Screaming
Husband equals a happy home where all problems are solved during
cocktail hour. Five Screaming Husbands signals the beginning of divorce
proceedings.)

Monday, March 21, 2016

Faithful reader Deanna sent me the recipe below (via Facebook... You can, too!), and though long-time readers will know that the idea of gelatinized fish products doesn'treflexivelyfill me with dread, I'll admit that the prospect of throwing A.1. sauce into the mix gave me pause.

The recipe is simple, and honestly, if you're pressed for time and don't want to wait for it to set up in the fridge, I think it would work equally as well by leaving out the gelatin and serving as a hot dip. As it was, Dr. Husband and our guest taster insisted that it be served alongside crackers.

Yes, I did serve it to actual not-in-on-the-joke guests after the video was filmed, and it was a big hit. Go figure!

Here's the recipe in its unaltered mid-century glory (Unfortunately I think the coupon has expired):

Incidentally, as a child I was fascinated and impressed by the A.1. pedigree as outlined on its label, to wit, that King George IV of England had tasted the sauce, created by his personal chef in 1824, and declared it "A-1" ("A number 1" being a contemporary term used by Lloyd's of London to designate the sturdiest ships.) Also incidentally, I was later fascinated by an old book I found in my great-Uncle's front room about A-No.-1, alternatively known as "America's Most Celebrated Tramp" and "King of the Hoboes"

But I digress. You're just waiting for the video, aren't you?

Our Rating:One Screaming Husband!(all
dishes are rated from one to five Screaming Husbands. One Screaming
Husband equals a happy home where all problems are solved during
cocktail hour. Five Screaming Husbands signals the beginning of divorce
proceedings.)

Sunday, February 28, 2016

Fudge! With beef! Seems like it was custom made for me to torment Dr. Husband with!

The recipe, sent to me by superfan Spencer, comes from "The Poll-ette Hostess Cookbook", a collection of Montanan Polled Hereford ranchers' wives' favorite recipes.

A disclaimer: Dr. Husband and I have been to Montana many times. It's a lovely place full of gracious people. We have never seen or been offered beef fudge.

Also, try not to think too much about the fact that our bovine cover girl is licking her lips, while serving up a sizzling hot steak.

Now, on to the fudge. Here's the recipe it its original form:

I didn't have any leftover roast beef handy, so I used some lunch meat roast beef. I also used the optional walnuts. (I'm not exactly sure in what respect roast beef would ever be expected to add "crunchiness".)

Mrs. Weist doesn't mention anything about precise temperatures, but I know from my genetic candy making heritage (if you've been following my other blog, you know that my grandmother was the Candy Queen of Middlepoint, Ohio!) that proper fudge is dependent upon a couple of key temperatures. To wit: when heating up your sugar base, you should cook to a "soft ball stage" (237 to 239 degrees), then remove from heat, and wait until it cools to between 110 and 120 degrees before stirring in the other ingredients.

I faithfully cooked to temp at the front end, but stirred everything else in before it cooled all the way - the result is a softer fudge that's a little harder to cut and serve, but otherwise delicious.

Yes I said delicious. I'll be damned if I can detect any hint of beef flavor in this fudge. It just tastes like fudge, begging the question of why Mrs. Weist would have ever added beef in the first place, she could have just made fudge and then elegantly used up her leftovers elsewhere. Unless, of course, she really was dependent upon the fact that the fudge "keeps real well" - maybe she was without refrigeration?

Dr. Husband was gone all day and I had gleeful visions of a horrific tasting session, but as I said, it's delicious. (He was a little put off once he found out what's in it, but...) I'd suggest if you want to try this, use bacon rather than beef, for a little more crunch AND something to counteract the sweetness triple-whammy of sugar, chocolate, and marshmallow cream.

Our Rating:One Screaming Husband!(all
dishes are rated from one to five Screaming Husbands. One Screaming
Husband equals a happy home where all problems are solved during
cocktail hour. Five Screaming Husbands signals the beginning of divorce
proceedings.)

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Well, here I am again, after a little post-Kitschmas break. I promise I'll be up and running at full speed soon, h-honest!

Today's offering (it's our anniversary, so I avoided something potentially disgusting) is a dish Dr. Husband and I tried in Canada a couple of summers ago, Nova Scotia to be precise. Rappie Pie (from the French patates râpées) is a traditional Acadian dish made with potatoes and whatever meat or seafood you might happen to have lying around. Most commonly chicken, so that's what I used.

You'll need chicken, cheesecloth, and potatoes. LOTS of potatoes. Most recipes call for 20 pounds (rappie pie is often served at Christmas or other large family gatherings, so recipes are designed to feed a crowd.) I used five pounds, and maybe could have done with ten...five pounds yielded only a medium-size mixing bowl full of grated potatoes.

Oh, did I mention the grating? The potatoes need to be grated within an inch of their lives. I cheated and used a food processor (the actual chopping blade, not the grating blade - you're not making hash browns, you want a very very tiny grate.) Some people these days use a juicer with a pulp gathering feature. Because, you see, once the potatoes are grated, you're going to wrap them in cheesecloth and squeeze all the liquid out of them.

Keep track of exactly how much liquid you extract from the potatoes, because you're going to replace it. With chicken broth. Oh, did I mention that while you're grating the potatoes, you should be simmering a fryer or stew hen in the pot? (Honestly, for all the trouble it was, if I ever make this again I use store bought broth and a rotisserie chicken. And probably powdered potatoes. All in the name of mid-century convenience cooking, you understand.)

Mix the grated potatoes well with hot broth, equal to the amount of liquid that was extracted, then spread half the mixture in a buttered casserole dish. Layer in shredded chicken (from the aforementioned fryer), then top with the remaining potato mixture.

Bake at 350 for about 3 hours. Honest.

The chicken nearly liquefies, and the potato mixture becomes a gelatinous goo. It's really disgusting up close, now that I think of it. But hearty and warming and homey. Traditionally served with molasses. Or pickles. Or tomatoes. Or cut into squares the next day and fried in butter.

Dr. Husband had his with cranberry sauce, and I drizzled honey on mine. I think the "rules" are pretty lax, and of course Canadians are so polite no one would ever tell you if you did it wrong.

You'll notice I haven't left you an easy to follow recipe. Because there are literally no two alike. Half the fun was figuring out exactly what I was going to use, and how much of it. If you're really tempted to try, Google some recipes and have fun. Here, I'll even do the Googling for you.